23 Going On 60: Midway Race for Education 10k race report

I repeated my normal pre-race meal of gnocchi, green beans, and toasted sourdough bread before the Midway Race for Education 10k on October 9th.

I was up at 5:30am, had breakfast, got ready, and hit the road at 6:50am. Midway is about 40 minutes away, and I wanted to get to the race site around 7:45 to pick up my packet and be ready for the 8:30am race start. It was about 39 degrees that morning, so I didn't want to have too much standing around time.

I made my way to Midway, which is nestled right in between Lexington, Versailles and Frankfort. It is an awesome little town! I've heard great things about it, but never been. It is a great little place with a cute downtown that is filled with local restraunts, cafes, shops and art galleries. There is a place called Darlin' Jeans Apple Cobbler Cafe and that is where the packet pick-up was located. I hear they have amazing cobbler! Chad was out of town and couldn't go to the race, but I think he would really love the town. We are planning on going out to Midway to have lunch and pick up my race packet the Saturday before the IronHorse half-marathon, which is in Midway. I will probably make my way to Darlin' Jeans, too.

So it was pretty cold that morning, but it warmed up and was a perfect clear morning for a race. I think there were around 200 or 300 people racing the 5k and 10k. The race started in downtown Midway and went through town and then out into horse farm country. It was a nice out and back course that was pretty flat for the first part, got hilly near the turnaround, and then flattened out again near the finish. I was really hoping for a sub 55 finish, but I ended up finishing in 55:06. The only bad thing about the race is that there was a pretty narrow finish line, and so as I was finishing running the 10k there were also groups of people who were finishing walking the 5k so it was a little congested there at the end. Overall it was a great race and I wish that I would have done it the past few years. The race packet was great and came with a long sleeved t-shirt, a water bottle, cereal samples and Larabar samples.

When I got back from the race I relaxed outside and read the November issue of Runner's World while Emma played in the backyard. It was a perfect morning/afternoon - and it was my birthday, too! Chad got home from Atlanta around 4:30 and then we went to dinner at my favorite mexican place, La Hacienda, then we went to see Secretariat. If you haven't seen Secretariat yet, it is a must see!

A lot of it was filmed in Lexington and Louisville, so it was really cool to recognize a lot of the locations. Spindletop Hall (which is basically UK's country club) was in the film, and that is where I did the Markey Race for Women's Cancer triathlon this summer. Keeneland was used for all of the Belmont scenes, and (obviously) Churchill Downs was used for the Kentucky Derby scenes.

It is a fantastic story of triumph of the human (and equine!) spirit. That is something about horse racing that I have really come to appreciate during our time in Kentucky - the stories of dedication and determination and perserverance that the owners, trainers, and jockeys put into these thoroughbred horses is pretty incredible. In honor of Secretariat, I will leave you with some horse-related pictures from our time here in Kentucky!